Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), on Thursday, clarified its position on Christmas celebration.

This followed the controversy stoked by the message of its General Overseer (Worldwide), Dr. Daniel Olukoya, during the church’s weekly Manna Water service on December 25, in which he declared the celebration unbiblical.

A statement signed by Collins Edomaruse, Head of the PR Unit, Office of the General Overseer (Worldwide) MFM, make the following clarifications:

“Though the foundation of Christmas is idolatry and God hates idolatry with perfect hatred, we will not throw away the baby and the birth water.

“We do not condemn those who celebrate.

“Jesus is born in us at MFM everyday. His death is our birth certificate.

“We will bring out the positive out of the negatives by using all holidays for prayers, conferences seminars and activities.

“We will hold seminars, conventions, camp meetings or special teaching services to pray, examine the scriptures and draw positives from the wrong, negative and idolatry practises of the two events: Easter and Christmas.

“We will hold special meetings to re-teach, re-emphasise and reappraise the significance of Jesus’ birth, death, cross and resurrection.

“ON DECEMBER AND THE SHEPHERDS

“Strange but true! Remember those shepherds who were “keeping watch over their flocks by night”? (Luke 2:8). December weather around Bethlehem is often miserably cold, wet and rainy. No shepherd in his right mind would have kept his flocks outside at night at that time of year!

“The passage argues against the December 25th birth of Jesus Christ since the weather would not have permitted shepherds to be out in the fields with their flocks then.

“Also, Luke 2:1-4 tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem because his parents came to that town to register in a Roman census. The Romans were well known as highly efficient administrators. It would have made no sense to have conducted a census in the dead of winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and traveling was difficult due to poor road conditions. Taking a census under such conditions would have been pointless.

“The Bible nowhere tells us to observe a holiday celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth – but it clearly does tell us to do ‘communion’ in remembrance of him.”

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